A Mission
by Kilarra
Summary: A simple mission, one tiny little goal. But when Beast Boy tries to obtain it, he and Raven both find they have more in common than they thought.


**Author's Note: What happens when you put a short, talented, and wonderfully modest fanfiction author in a tent in Yellowstone without a computer and a cousin who enjoys her writing? A cute little BB/Rae one shot! I hope you enjoy it, took me longer to type up than to write. Have fun and, as always, constructive criticism is most welcome.**

**Disclaimer: Maybe in my dreams I own something, but this is reality. I'm not sure where the kitty scene came from, so I may or may not own it. Just to be safe, I'm not going to take any ownership and if you think it's cute, feel free to use the idea if it's mine. **

There was absolutely nothing to do. Seriously, nothing. It was just him and Raven… in the Tower… alone. And he had _nothing_ to do. She was, as was common, with a book and deeply engrossed in it. Robin and Starfire were… how to say this tactfully, out. Ever since Tokyo, they hadn't spent more than ten minute bathroom breaks apart. Ok, so that was slightly exaggerated, but he was bored. As a matter of fact, he had never been more bored in his life. Ok, so that wasn't entirely true, there had been some pretty bad times with the Doom Patrol. But the fact was that since all the criminals on Jump City had decided to take the fall off, the situation between the two love birds had gotten, if possible, worse. They were never around! Cyborg had taken the opportunity to visit the Titans East for a few days or weeks or years. This left him with no bad guys to fight, no video games to play, and no couples to make fun of. Stupid kiss, wasn't it supposed to change Robin and Starfire's lives, not his?

An idea struck him, causing a mischievous grin to spread across his face. He was, after all, alone in the Tower with the only girl in the universe he really, _really_ actually wanted to kiss. Surely attempting to get one would make his day better (it certainly couldn't get any worse). And kisses seemed to work wonders with people's lives. Just look at Robin, he hadn't gone all psycho-obsessive since they got back from Tokyo. As a matter of fact, the guy had barely stopped smiling since their 'vacation'. He looked like a total idiot when they were fighting, but there you go. And Starfire! The alien princess barely set foot on the ground anymore, unable to bridle her joy to save her life. Her cooking had improved by leaps and bounds since Robin had mentioned how tasty her zorka berry pudding was and had asked her for cooking lessons as an excuse to spend more time with her. If one little kiss in the rain after a battle had done all that for the happy couple, then why couldn't it at least spice up his day. Besides, this was _Raven_ he was talking about.

Beast Boy removed his head from the crook of his elbow to glance around the room. Empty, as he had expected, except for one dark, hooded empath curled up on the couch. She appeared to be reading a book in a language he couldn't understand or even recognize. He watched her silently for a moment, trying to tell if now was a really bad time. With Raven, that was always a smart thing to do… unless he wanted to get thrown out a window before he even sat down. After ten minutes, he noticed something rather strange, especially considering that this was Raven he was staring at. She had yet to turn a page in her book; she was just sitting there, staring at the same page without even reading it. Cautiously, he got up and walked to the back of the couch. Despite popular opinion, he was capable of being quite stealthy when he wanted to.

When she didn't react to his movement, he decided to go one step further, almost literally. Beast Boy shifted into his tiny, kitten form and leapt onto the couch, slipping slightly, but managing to scurry onto its back. Cyborg would freak when he found all the little green hairs on the grey material, but he could worry about that later. He was a man on a mission! Weaving slightly for infancies, he made his way over to Raven, mischief dancing in his feline eyes. She took no notice of him, just continued to stare down at the unchanged page.

Tentatively, he placed one small, green paw on her cloaked shoulder, bracing himself for the attack that was sure to follow. Nothing happened. Encouraged by this lack of response, he placed another paw beside the first, then another, then another. The Titan still didn't seem to care even though he was now sitting on her, purring gently. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed that she had yet to notice him, or glad that he was still safely within the Tower and hadn't been injured. Gently, playfully, he began to paw her hood, eventually sending it into folds about her shoulders. Purring loudly in satisfaction, he began to rub his small, fuzzy head against her cheek, then started batting at her hair. Unexpectedly, she moved, sending him off balance and toppling off her shoulder. This forced him to extend his tiny kitten claws into her cloak to prevent himself from falling right into her lap. For a moment, he struggled; trying to pull himself back up, then a pair of warm, pale hands plucked him from the dark blue fabric and held him before a blank face. He hadn't heard the book close.

"What do you think you're doing?" Raven's voice was scathing and cold as ice. Beast Boy blinked shyly and mewed, rolling onto his back in her palms. "You got hair all over my cloak," she said, slightly more gentile with her tone as she set him on the cushion beside her.

"I wanted to cheer you up," he replied simply as soon as he was back in human form. "You were looking a little down." This wasn't entirely a lie, and it was far less likely to get him killed than the truth.

"I never knew you could make puns," she commented, amused by his confused look. "Besides, you say that to me practically every day. It's not like you're ever right."

"Well, this time I actually mean it!" He threw his hands up defensively, honesty shining in his eyes. Raven's eyes looked mildly amused and annoyed at the same time, though her face remained blank. "Seriously though," he continued, trying to be a serious as possible. "You've been staring at the same page for the last 20 minutes."

"I suppose you're right," she sighed, gazing absently out the window.

"Now I know there's something bugging you," BB said quietly, figuring he should at least try to be mature about this. Raven liked mature. The empathic girl raised her eye brows skeptically.

"Really… and how ever did you come to this brilliant conclusion?"

"Well, that's the first sarcastic comment you've made all day," he pointed out, causing her to frown. "And you haven't hit me yet." Beast Boy found his face rather painfully imbedded in the coffee table half a second later. "Ok, I guess I asked for that one." Raven's lips threatened to twist into a wicked grin, causing Beast Boy to smile brightly and plop down beside her, pleased with his progress. A moment passed where he tried to match Raven's glare with one of his own in a desperate attempt to prove how mature he could be. His logic was rather off, but at least he was trying. About a minute passed before he burst out laughing, forcing an amused look into Raven's amethyst eyes. Not because she found the starring contest funny, but simply because he was acting like such an idiot. She pointed this out, causing the green Titan to almost fall off the couch.

"You're in a good mood today," Raven commented as she watched the changeling, rolling around clutching his ribs, in sheer amazement. Surely it was impossible for someone to laugh that much over nothing. Yet here was Beast Boy, proving her wrong… again.

"What can I say," he gasped, mastering himself enough to throw her a grin. "I'm on a mission!"

"Really," said Raven, reaching for her book. "And I'm sure you're just _dying_ to tell me what it is." Beast Boy flushed, but not for the reasons Raven thought.

"Maybe," he said coyly. "But first you have to tell me what's bugging you." Raven opened her book and began reading again. "Come on, Rae," he wined. "There's no one else around, who are you going to talk to if not me? Cyborg's off with the Titans East and Robin and Starfire are-." He stopped mid sentence as Raven's hands tightened on her book. "It's about those two, isn't it." His voice was soft as he blinked at her, causing her to frown openly.

"What's it to you any way," she snapped before thinking, her eyes widening when she heard her own words. Raven glared at him for a moment, waiting for that arrogant, triumphant grin to spread across his face. Or the childish victory dance that came after he got her to admit something. Or the stupid joke. But they never came. Instead, he was just staring at her with the softest look she had ever seen in his eyes, almost hurt.

"Raven," he almost whispered, trying to put into words just how much it was to him. His mouth issued several cut off vowels before he broke eye contact, chewing his tongue. She watched him curiously, sensing his desperation but not knowing its cause.

"What?" Her voice was a simple monotone, but her eyes shone with the concern she refused to express. He didn't respond, just sat starring at the carpeted floor. Then a few minutes later, he just began talking.

"Once, when I was very young, six I think, I met this girl. She was… beautiful, with the most amazingly brown eyes I have seen to this day. Of course, she was African, so her skin was this dark chocolate color and her dark hair was always braided into some type of pattern. Her name was Abebe and I had the biggest crush a six year old could have on her. But she spent a lot of time with the witch doctor Mobu, so she was terrified of me. Mobu always hated me, I never really understood why, but he was willing to go to any lengths to get rid of me. Anyway, that didn't cross my mind until years later, after she had already denounced me as a monster. I'd tried to give her a flower, I can't even remember what color or type it was, but things… didn't work out.

"There I was, blushing like an idiot and holding out some pathetic looking flower I'd picked 10 minutes before, green skinned, pointy-eared, and little fang. She took one look at me, then at the lack of people around, and started screaming her head off, calling me a crazy animal, monster, demon, you name it. I'm not sure I can really blame her, you've seen me when I blush and get all shy, I kinda turn a brownish red and just stare stupidly. And with all the lies Mobu probably told her about me… well, let's just say he never made me out to be a nice guy. I took a step towards her, asked her what was wrong. It never occurred to me that _I_ was the cause of her fear, not until she pulled out her hunting knife and began waving it at me. I acted on instinct, turning into some type of animal, but that didn't help anything. Well, long story short, I ended up limping away with a nicked cheek and she was halfway back to the village, crying. After that, I moved into a tree house in the jungle, saying that it was because I didn't want to learn all the stuff I was required to as village prince." Raven was incredibly confused. Here was Beast Boy, happy-go-lucky, my-life's-great, nothing-can-ever-dampen-my-spirits, my-stupid-jokes-are-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread Beast Boy, sitting next to her. His mouth was moving, it was his voice that she heard, but these couldn't possibly be his words. This could not have possibly happened to the green boy who now sat next to her, it was just impossible.

"Some how, through a series of events that Robin would throw me in jail faster than you can say 'not my fault' for," he gave her a meaningful look and the question died on the lips." I wound up here. I hadn't tried the whole crush thing since Abebe and I had no intention of doing so. Or I tried not to." He threw her another meaningful look. "At least, not until _she_ came. Terra was, well, not afraid of me. She was so busy worrying about herself or being overconfident that she never had time to even consider that there might have been something under the jokes. And I was grateful for that, grateful that she say me as just Beast Boy the hero and not Gar Logan the freak. But we both know how that one turned out." His voice was bitter, far more bitter than she had ever heard it. It was shocking to say the least. "Maybe she should have been afraid of me; I hunted her down didn't I? I was going to make her pay, but then I saw her, tears streaming down her face as she fought not to kill me, and all I wanted to do was save her, prove to her that she had nothing to fear. You know I found her again, about a year back." Raven shook her head, surprised by this news. "Yeah, she must have been brought back with everyone else when you defeated your dad. She doesn't remember a thing; she's just like everyone else now.

"I have a fan club, just like everyone on the Team, people who think I'm cute, admire me, or are envious of my powers. You know how it is, but I can't say I would be complaining if it weren't for one tiny little problem. All the fan girls are afraid of me. That's the thing about having animal senses, I can smell fear. Don't laugh, it's true." There, a glimmer of the old jokester, Raven felt relieved. "Sure they're all fine when I'm a human, but the moment they stare into the eyes of a wolf, or bear, or tiger, or dinosaur, their eyes widen, their pupils dilating, and their heart speeds up. Even the Team gets s cared of me from time to time, when I get too aggressive or am having a bad day which has been known to happen. I'm sort of used to it by now, but still, it hurts t know that as long as people are afraid of the animal in me, I can never have what Robin and Starfire do."

"Beast Boy," Raven said quietly, though she wasn't sure how to follow it up. He smiled, though it was a sad smile, and met her gaze.

"I don't claim to be an expert, but doesn't this qualify as 'a moment'?" She nodded dumbly. "Then don't you think you should call me Gar?"

"Gar," she corrected. Carefully, she reached out for his hand, partially to comfort him and partially to gain some support. For a moment, she searched for something to say, anything besides what she knew was on the tip of her tongue. But there were no other words. With a sigh, she began to talk, her amethyst eyes fixed on his emerald ones, hoping he could understand. "I wasn't supposed to live this long. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the world didn't end, but I just can't shake the feeling that I'm supposed to be dead. I'd known about the prophesy for as long as I can remember, so you could say I've been preparing to die since I was a child. I never made friends because I knew I'd one day destroy them, never been close to my family for obvious reasons, and kept my emotions in check to try and hold my father back for as long as was possible. Until then, I tried to do as much good as was possible and soon found myself in a group.

"But when doing that good, well, it seemed like I woke up one day and just found myself with friends. It killed me to know that I would someday destroy them along with the rest of the world. So I read every Azrathian text I could get my hands on in an attempt to learn how to save them from my fate. That's about when I found _him_, that dragon. He told me everything I ever wanted to hear, and I felt lonely. It was self-inflicted, I know, but that didn't make it any less real. He became my mentor, my role model… my lover, but it was all lies, a simple part of his plans to escape from that book. I was no more than a pawn to him. It really hurt to know that the only man who could love me was actually just using me." Beast Boy sort of grimaced at that, but remained silent. "I told myself that it was for the best since the world had little more than a year left to live anyway, and that I just wasn't meant for love. But that was easier to accept when I thought I would die at sixteen" She was surprising herself by how loose her tongue was. These were things that she kept under lock and key deep within her mind, secrets she had never had any intention of revealing. Yet here she was, pouring out her sole, to Beast Boy Of all people. Raven had to admit, he was probably the best choice among the Team since he alone really understood what it was like to fear one's self. And it was the least she could do since he had trusted her so completely only a few minutes prior. Besides, it felt… nice to have someone to talk to about these things.

"But that day came and went, and I am still alive. I never thought I'd live past that day, never though about what I would do if I did. At first, I reasoned that it changed nothing, I was- am, still a half demon, and still can't feel much, though that has become slightly less restrictive since he's been gone. But now, I suppose that whenever I see Starfire and Robin together, especially after Tokyo, I can't help but-"

"Envy them," finished Beast Boy, perfect understanding in his voice. She blinked, finding herself still locked in his eyes. "For their ability to love and be loved in return. You see in them the life you can't have," He was speaking as much about himself as her, she could tell, and it was extremely comforting to know he really understood. For a moment, they just stared at each other, to amazed that the other knew how they felt to do anything. Then, tentatively, Raven slid closer to him and leaned against his chest, allowing his arms to encircle her. She could feel his nose nuzzling her hair and his heart beating rhythmically against her ear. Time stopped, the moment suspended itself across eternity.

"So," she said after the long moment had ended and she found her voice.

"Hm?" His response resonated in his chest, vibrating against her ear.

"I told you what was bothering me, now you have to tell me what your 'mission is." Raven almost smiled as she spoke, content to just feel his warmth and the rise and fall of his chest for a moment.

"Oh, that, well," he trailed off looking rather embarrassed, but he didn't release her. It was almost cute, as a matter of fact it would have been if she had been anyone but Raven. "It's really stupid; you'll probably throw me out a window if I did try it." His breath stirred in her hair, his words muffled. She turned her face into his chest for half a second, more relaxed then she had felt in years.

"Then don't tell me," she mumbled before she quite knew what she was saying. "I'm comfortable." He chuckled, the sound rumbling against her face.

"It's not important anyway," he said, ecstatic to have her so close. He could almost feel her smiling, causing a huge grin to spread across his own face. Raven stirred after a few moments and he slackened his grip to allow her greater mobility. Slowly, calmly, she brought her face before his, the tiniest shadow of a smile playing on her lips as mischief danced in her eyes. He blinked at her, curiosity in his own smile.

"Thank you, for getting me to talk about it, for listening," she said in the gentlest voice he had ever heard come out of Raven. Then, faster than he would have thought, she came at him and pecked him on his left cheek. She was halfway to the door before he fully realized what had happened. When the realization finally dawned on him, an idiotic grin spread across his face and he wiped his head around to stare at the door. "Gar," Raven said as the door opened, turning to look back over her shoulder. "Tell anyone about this and I'll rip your tongue out."

"Sure thing Rae," he called as she left the room, her cloak swishing behind her. Beast Boy waited for the door to slide shut again before he raised his hand to his cheek, trying to make sure that it had really happened. His grin got impossibly wide "Mission accomplished," he said triumphantly.


End file.
